A witness claims he spotted two men acting suspiciously close to Nicola Bulley’s dog walking route on January 26 – the day before the mum went missing.
The 45-year-old was last seen on January 27 walking her dog Willow in St Michaels on Wyre.
One witness phoned police the day before Nicola went missing after two men carrying fishing rods and wearing hats or hoods made him feel “uneasy”.
He said the presence of the two individuals was “very strange”.
Two men 'acting suspiciously' were spotted near Nicola Bulley's dog walking route
Peter Byrne
"I first saw them at around 7:45 am on my way to work on the Thursday, the day before Nicola Bulley vanished. I drive that way every day, so know the road well,” he told the Sun.
"I saw two men wearing dark clothing and hoods or hats and carrying fishing rods. They could have been just two normal fishermen and if I had seen their faces I wouldn't have thought anything of it.
"But I remembered that they seemed to want to hide their faces, which struck me as odd. It wasn’t particularly cold that day — it was quite mild, so their behaviour, to me, seemed strange."
He suspected the two men could have been “poachers” so did not dwell on the sighting.
However, the following day the witness said he spotted one of the men again near the bridge as he drove through the village.
He said: "It was around the same time, 7:45 am. This time it was just a glimpse, but I definitely saw one of them.
"I think I saw the second man, who was way ahead of the other, but I have been going over it a lot in my mind and I couldn’t swear my life on it. Again, the man I saw was carrying a fishing rod and covering his face."
The witness heard about Nicola’s disappearance after returning from a weekend away and despite multiple calls to police did not hear back until nine days later.
Officers have moved their investigation to the Irish sea
Owen Humphreys
He added: "I couldn't understand it, there's a woman missing and I've seen these men in the area, why haven't they called me."
"It's frustrating, it would have been much better if I had been spoken to straight away as it was fresher in my mind."
It comes after officers were given new CCTV footage from a garage covering the last 24 hours before Nicola went missing.
Police believe she may have fallen into the River Wyre and was swept out to the Irish Sea but are “open” to other possibilities.
